Ratcheting drivers are already known in the art of applying fasteners, and in like actions. There can be a handle and an actuator thereon and a gear and pawl assembly all for maneuvering the actuator for selectively setting the assembly for rotational driving in either direction while allowing ratcheting in the direction opposite the driving direction.
The present invention improves upon the prior art drivers in that it presents a ratcheting driver which firmly transmits optimum amount of torque through the gear and pawl assembly. In accomplishing this objective, the driver of this invention is relatively easily manufactured, inexpensive, durable, and reliable.
In using a ratcheting driver, torque is applied from the user's hand to the handle and then to the pawl and then to the gear and then to the driven tool bit and/or to the work piece, such as a screw, nut, or bolt. It is important to have the assembly arranged for optimum transmission of the applied hand torque. That achievement is dependent on the construction, mounting, and location of the pawls. This invention achieves the optimum arrangement for transmitting that optimum torque, and doing so in a reliable and consistent manner.
This invention has pivotal pawls which are supported in pockets of the driver housing and, under the force of the rotation torque being applied, the pawls can not then pivot out of their engaged position with the gear. That is, the rotation force applied through the pawls serves to secure the pawls in the engaged position. There is a relationship between the housing and the pawls to effect the securement of the engaged pawls without any forces tending to tilt the pawl. The torquing force as applied to the pawls themselves serves to enhance security for the engagement of the teeth which will remain engaged while driving.
The pawls have a stability with the housing and the gear to always remain aligned therewith and thereby have full and aligned contact with the gear during maximum torque transmission. Also, in the driving mode, the forces on the pawls from the housing are in a direction to enhance the force of engagement of the pawl with the gear teeth to thereby remain in full and secure contact. In fact, there can be more than one angular direction of the forces from the housing to the pawl, and thus there can be two simultaneously applied forces from the housing to the engaged pawl. Those two forces are applied in spaced-apart locations, both of which urge the pawl into firm tooth engagement with the gear, as desired.
Another important feature is that the pawls are disengaged from the gear by a camming action applied by a control that slides under and over, in respective embodiments, the pivotal pawls for pivoting the pawls off the gear to thereby disengage the pawls. In that arrangement, the control is selectively moved to respective positions underneath the respective pawl to pivot the pawl off the gear. In that action, the control and the pawl have mutually engaging surfaces for effecting the pivoting action, and that produces the camming action. That is in contrast to the prior art of pushing pawls out of the way to free the pawls from gear engagement, and that means that those pawls were tenuously positioned in their engaged positions. In contrast, in the present invention the disengaging force on the pawl is in a direction of a force-component radially directed relative to the longitudinal axis of the gear.
In accomplishing the foregoing, in some of the herein disclosed embodiments, the pawls extend axially beyond the length of the gear teeth, and an actuator web is arranged for pivoting the pawl off the gear from underneath the pawl, that is, the web extends to a location radially inward on the pawl to lift the pawl off the gear. In another embodiment, the pawl does not extend axially beyond the gear teeth, and that pawl is pivoted off the gear teeth by a lever action on the pawl.
Several different embodiments of the cap, with respectively different integral webs, are disclosed, and, in all embodiments, no additional pawl actuator part is required to serve as a pawl actuator. All is with one integral cap with webs which pivot the respective pawls off the gear.
Additionally, inventiveness resides in utilizing the pawls for limiting the rotation of the cap when using the cap for ratcheting and driving adjustments. The pawls themselves are placed in rotative obstruction so the cap can not be rotated too far until the cap is intentionally released.
Still further, the gear is rotatably supported at its two ends which flank the gear teeth, so the tendency to cock or tilt the gear is eliminated because the gear is held stable against the driving forces. Also, the pawls extend beyond the axial length of the gear teeth, and thusly the webs which actuate by pivoting the pawls can contact the pawls from underneath at the extending lengths to lift the pawls for pivoting, rather than the need to push the pawls off to one side, as in some prior art.
There also is an inventive method of arranging the driver of this invention, and that is included herein. It is efficient and presents a sturdy driver.